From the first part of the poem, this poem has exhibited uniqueness, not only in differing from works of other poets, but also the work of Yeats himself. The title itself is not very characteristic of Yeats. The title directly refers to of the major characters in the poem. Most of Yeats’ titles are very indirect, and have little direct reference to the situation at hand. A more ‘Yeats-like” title would have been “The First Coming”, which chronologically ascends up to one of Yeats’ other poems, “The Second Coming”, which was, according to me, far more complex. This poem perfectly depicts the preceding part of “The Second Coming”. While this poem signifies the end of the mythological epoch and the start of the ‘modern’ era, ‘The Second Coming’ refers to the next chronological stage – the end of the modern era. Therefore, I would predict that “The Second Coming” is a continuation of this poem.
Furthermore, the structure of the poem enlightens this change in era. “Leda and The Swan” is a 14-line sonnet in regular iambic pentameter. There is a clear separation between the first eight lines (octave) and the last six lines (sestet). The dividing half-line between the octave and the sestet is the point of ejaculation – “the shudder in the loins”. This greatly signifies the complete change and the entrance of the new era right after the ejaculation. It should also be noted that this poem has a rhyme sequence of ABABCDCDEFGEFG.
The style and technique that the poet has used is remarkable. He has used a wide array of literary styles to appraise the dangers of the incident. Alliteration has been commonly used “he holds her helpless”, “brute blood”, which immediately catches out attention. It is important to note that the two alliterations mentioned above have each been followed by a question, which might imply that the alliterations have been used in the first place to attract us to the questions. The poet did not leave the theme to be enlightened just by the technique – he used punctuation skillfully. The number of questions marks in this poem seems unusual for a 14-line poem. Why did he use so many question marks? The bitter helplessness in the poem can only be stressed by the use of question marks. “How can those terrified vague fingers push the feathered glory from her loosing thighs?” shows to consist of a lot more despair and despondency than a statement which merely states that Leda is too helpless to avoid being raped. Colons have also been used to attract the reader “A sudden blow:” In general, all the punctuation, style and technique used have not only further intensified the vivid immediacy present, but have also made the poem a lot more interesting and readable.
The one aspect of the poem that I was impressed by is the ‘life’ given to the rape. This is an feature that, I think, is unique to very few of Yeats’ poems. Most of his poems are reflections of the past or speculations of the future; never has Yeats picturized a ‘live’, real-life event, with a mention of its ghastly implications. The rape almost seems as if it is happening in front of the reader’s own eyes. The poet’s ability to create the vivid immediacy should be commended.
This vivid immediacy has been created through extensive usage of diction. Phrases that picture the actual event “the staggering girl”, “her thighs caressed”, “her nape caught in his bill”, “helpless breast upon breast” have been used in a much more direct fashion that I would have hoped to expect out of Yeats. There is one more facet that I found unique in this poem - its direct reference to situations. From Yeats, I would have expected the actual incident and the ghastly horror confronted to be belied by various metaphors and figurative expressions with multiple layers of meaning. But this poem has none of these characteristics; it is a straight forward poem with an implied theme. The expressions commanding the actual event have been quickly followed by more gruesome expressions concerning the implications of the rape and the direct consequences of the Trojan War “The broken wall”, “The burning roof and tower”, “Agamemnon dead”. The last quote “Agamemnon dead” has shocked me the most. This is the word that summarizes the whole theme. Zeus is raped and a baby is born who later on evolves to become the most beautiful women in the world and creates a deadly war. Until then, the Trojan War has not been mentioned, only inferences are possible. With the word “Agamemnon [the leader of the Greeks against Troy]’ a new level of reality is introduced. The ultimate connected between the preceding events and the Trojan War is made by the word ‘Agamemnon’ which, to me, made the poem all the more clearer than it already is.
The vivid imagery which was illustrated by the use of diction, as mentioned earlier, has also been made significant by the use of imagery. Through the use of present-tense and present-continuous tense, combined with descriptive language, the life in the situation is made even more current. Phrases such as “A sudden blow”, “her nape caught in his bill”, “breast upon breast”, “white rush” and “terrified vague fingers” have strengthened the reality of the poem, and have made it more interesting. Every scene has been picturised well, with the rape scene seen from both the narrator’s point of view “her nape caught in his bill”, “breast upon breast” and Leda’s point of view “Vague fingers”, “white rush”. Every action has been described by such accurate and proper language that it is as if the rape is pictured in a slow-motion movie.
The tone raises some very interesting questions. Even though the incident itself is very ghastly, the narrator’s tone is very indifferent. Not once has the narrator’s views been told. Why could Yeats have done this? I feel that this reiterates the ‘reality’ of the poem. If the narrator had stated his own perspective, the poem would not have been as realistic as it is now. With out any external references, the situation remains natural and not tempered. Our imagination is not soiled by any views and we, as readers, are left to make our own choices on the rightness and the wrongness of all of it.
The poet has reflected on the theme in every possible way, through the use of diction, style, technique and imagery. The highly-detailed situation of the actual rape scene and the equally-ghastly description of the consequences of the Trojan War has made this poem not only of the most realistic poems that Yeats has written, but also one of my most liked poe ms.
